Google Workers are Striking for Climate on Sept 20

Over 2,000 Google workers have signed a pledge supporting climate action at Google. They will be sharing their reasons for signing on our Twitter page.

Do you work for Google? Visit: go/climate-action and sign up to strike with us!

Do you work for another tech company? Visit: techworkerscoalition.org/climate-strike to find a Tech Worker climate strike delegation near you.

All other supporters, visit: https://globalclimatestrike.net/ to join actions in your area!

We have about 11 years left to make big, structural changes and save our collective future. This is not a drill or an exaggeration, and it’s not up for debate. If anything, this estimate is conservative.

And by “we” we don’t mean “you” as an individual. Personal consumer choice may help, but the responsibility lies with those who contributed the most to climate change, and who have the structural power to shift policies and practices at a large scale.

What we as individuals can do – together – is demand that powerful institutions make these changes. That’s what the Climate Strike is about, and that’s why we’re joining.

Tech is not “green.” The carbon footprint of the tech industry’s data centers alone is on par with aviation. While Google makes a commitment to sustainability, stating that its global business operations are carbon neutral (its emissions are offset with equivalent renewable energy investments or carbon offset purchases) and aspiring to long-term 24x7 carbon-free energy consumption (but with no set commitment date), this doesn’t tell the whole story.

Google Cloud makes significant revenue licensing infrastructure, machine learning, and engineering talent to fossil fuel companies, promising to help them extract fuel reserves faster. We know that a liveable future requires keeping these reserves in the ground. And that by making extraction “more efficient” Google trades our collective future for profit.

Also, Google invests in the deadly status quo. In 2018 the company funded 111 members of Congress who voted against climate legislation at least 90% of the time.

This is why Google workers organized with workers from Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, and other tech companies to join the Global Climate Strike on September 20, demanding a liveable future for all of us, and pointing out how powerful tech companies push disproportionate risk on the people least responsible for this crisis. As Amazon workers wrote in their open letter: “We have to take responsibility for the impact that our business has on the planet and on people.”

Google workers stand with students and our peers across tech in support of the climate movement, in support of frontline communities, and in support of a livable future – we are committed to bold action across the tech industry, and beyond. It’s literally the only reasonable choice.

We support the cross-tech climate goals outlined by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice:

1. Zero emissions by 2030.

2. Zero contracts for fossil fuel companies to accelerate oil and gas extraction.

3. Zero funding for climate denying lobbyists and politicians.

A fourth cross-tech climate demand was articulated later, after Google workers' pledges had already started to be counted.

4. Zero harm to climate refugees and frontline communities.

As individuals, we may feel alone in facing climate change. But if we act together – if we act now – we can build a better future.